Sunday, February 16, 2014

Down with Diabetes!

Beauty with a cause is certainly
inspirational. When Deepali Phadnis was under the limelight as Mrs. Asia
International, she decided that the spotlight had to shift from her to the
cause she was fighting. In a matter of days, she garnered plenty of support for
Diabetes Awareness, and has left no stone unturned in fighting the debilitating
disease. Deepali’s fight for Diabetes Awareness began from a rather personal
incident. “I lost my father due to Diabetes and related complications. I kept
asking myself and introspecting on why we could not try to save him. I realized
that I was born in a Diabetic Family in a Diabetic Nation. I could not do much
to save my father owing to the lack of awareness. Now, though, after going
through what I did, I realise that it is definitely important that we all work
towards finding a way to stop Diabetes in India. If we don’t, there is every
chance that this disorder will take us back a hundred years as living with
diabetes is difficult.”

Deepali’s work spectrum on the issue and on
bringing awareness about the disease to the masses has involved a lot of hard
work. She regularly works to screen a documentary film on Diabetes, titled
“India Diverse, Dense and Diabetic”. The film focuses on India’s diverse
culture, dense population and the massive extent of diabetes, and was made by
Padmashree Dr. Mohan, India’s number one Diabetes Specialist, with the
intention of educating, spreading awareness and getting more people to
understand the effects of Diabetes.

“I entered a platform where I was heard
internationally, and came back to India to create a platform that would help me
reach more. I host camps on Women’s Day for Diabetes awareness in Women,
focusing on specific kinds of diabetes - such as Gestational Diabetes and
Diabetes due to Obesity. Women are so busy running their family that they
forget about their health. It Many diabetic women ignore their medication and
nutritional/physical exercise needs, as they think that their first job is to
serve their family. I work with people with Type 1 diabetes that are below the
poverty line. I assist in raising funds for them by selling T-shirts that
brings awareness on Diabetes and helps child with fund to buy medication,
encouraging them to live happy and don't feel alone to live with Diabetes. I
also introduced the Diabetic alert ID card as neither the parents of children
nor caregivers were aware that they can have very simple and least expensive
thing such as ID card that can be life saver in emergencies.”

With Diabetes, the rich can turn to poor.
There are more than 200 Juvenile Type-1 diabetic children who

Little steps can make a big difference. Image: Deepali Phadnis

need lots of help
to get medication and monitoring to lead a normal life. They need day camps
that encourage them and give a feeling that they are not alone in their
struggle to live with diabetes. “To do all this in one place is a big
challenge. I need the support of society and many, many helping hands for which
I am still struggling.” She says.

Currently, Deepali is working on a donation
camp towards Juvenile and Neonatal Diabetic Children who are below the poverty
line. “Any help would be greatly appreciated: help in terms of funds is most preferred
as doctors can buy medication or equipments as required for the children
themselves. Another option that’s up for the masses is to donate boxes of Gluco-Strips,
and the more inclined can even “adopt” a child and take care of their medical
expenses.

Diabetes is no more a rich man’s disease.
It can happen to anyone, but by living with diabetes, the rich can turn to
poor. Diabetes is not about just blood sugar control. Obesity is a chronic
disorder which plays the role of a catalyst for many disorders such heart
disease, kidney failure and blindness, paralysis and much more. The good news
is that Diabetes is controllable though common and chronic. We can together as
a nation can wipe out Diabetes. All we need is to strike a balance between diet
and exercise to keep Diabetes at bay.